Laguna Beach restaurant, Three Seventy Common, has soaring ceilings and windows that are nearly floor to ceiling. The chef owner wants guests to relax and enjoy good food in a casual, unpretentious setting.

A Wild Mushroom Bruchetta has a dramatic presence at Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach. Parmesan, grilled bread and frisee are also featured in the dish.

The second floor can be curtained off used for a private parties at Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach.

Kale salad with persimmons, pears, currants, walnuts and Pecorino cheese in a citrus vinaigrette dressing is served at Three Seventy Common. The Laguna Beach restaurant is globally influenced and domestically sourced, according to its website.

Pistachios and arugula in a citrus vinaigrette with pork belly is served at Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach. The restaurant's chef owner, Ryan Adams, was executive chef at Sorrento which formerly occupied this spot.

Kale salad with persimmons, pears, currants, walnuts and Pecorino cheese in a citrus vinaigrette dressing is served at Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach.

Chef owner Ryan Adams prepares a dish at his Laguna Beach restaurant, Three Seventy Common. Adams wants guests to relax and enjoy good food in a casual, unpretentious setting.

Pistachios and a citrus vinaigrette accompany a pork belly dish at Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach where local ingredients are prepared in new American ways.

Three Seventy Common in Laguna Beach offers quality local ingredients prepared in innovative new American ways.

With its local ingredients, inventive small plates and family-style dinners, 370 Common is hitting the high notes of current restaurant trends.

The restaurant, which opened last fall, is an update on Sorrento Grill, a favorite for years in downtown Laguna Beach. Former Sorrento Chef Ryan Adams continues to helm the kitchen, but now he’s also the owner, bringing his own character to the establishment. The result — though trendy it may be — isn’t a hipper-than-thou hot spot. Instead, it harnesses some of the best things going on in the food world right now in a casually elegant setting.

I enlist a friend who was a longtime fan of Sorrento to weigh in on the new concept. Almost immediately, she’s won over, and it looks as if plenty of others are as well. Even on a Tuesday night, the restaurant is bustling, with the only open seats available at the bar overlooking the kitchen. Though quarters here are a little tighter, it’s almost like dinner and a show as stovetops flash and pans clatter.

The drink menu is impressive, with favorites brews like Allagash and the local Bruery earning spots. An affordably priced glass of pinot noir is surprisingly crisp. What’s essentially gourmet Chex mix comes complimentary with the drinks, and it’s pleasant to munch while planning an attack on the menu. Though it only spans one page, there’s much to peruse from bite-sized eats, like single oysters, to small plates to entrees.

We start with a kale salad ($10) as a nod to healthy eating. The dark greens prove to be a treat, however, and their customary bitter flavor is hidden with a bright citrus vinaigrette. Shavings of pecorino cheese add a sharp saltiness; walnuts bring a crunch. Persimmons and currants are explosively sweet and juicy amid the mix.

Bruschetta with parmesan and wild mushrooms ($13) similarly goes to delicious lengths. The ingredients here are simpler, but each shines. Bread is on the burned side of well-done, perhaps too much so for some palates, but I enjoy the smokiness it brings to the dish. Mushrooms show the exquisite range of the fungi. Each adds a slightly different flavor and texture, and all offer buttery richness.

Rich barely begins to describe the pork belly ($14). The brick of meat is so tender it jiggles. Outside, it’s been cooked to a crisp, like a perfect strip of bacon. Inside, it’s the molten essence of pork.

On the more traditional entrees, the restaurant continues with its new take. Pork loin ($23) starts with a perfectly cooked cut of meat, then adds a barbecue sauce flavored with harissa, a North African chili paste. An apple and sweet onion slaw keeps the dish moist and from being ordinary.

The restaurant really outdoes itself on the burger. A sizeable, quality beef patty is stacked beyond belief with cheddar, arugula, a fried egg, bacon, mushrooms, charred onions and rounded off with a chili aioli. This ultimate burger earns its $14 price tag. Salty shoestring fries come with a lime-flavored ketchup – no detail is overlooked.

With drink specials throughout the week and a prix-fixe supper on Sundays, the restaurant is aiming to create a community around the common table that now defines its dining room. Like the other updates, this works. Before I even finish my plate, I’m looking forward to future trips, whether it’s an after-work drink or a three-course dinner.

Chef Adams’ new concept has brought new life to the restaurant, harnessing the best of modern menus for all to enjoy.

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